


The Clumsy Person Who Loves You

by IAmStoryteller



Series: Over The Love of You [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Batwoman (Comic)
Genre: F/M, Gen, again with the dick/betty, i told you i would have shipped them so hard in the 1960s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 23:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1179494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmStoryteller/pseuds/IAmStoryteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An introspective look at Betty Kane’s feelings for one Dick Grayson/Robin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Clumsy Person Who Loves You

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy. Set in the same verse as Never Let Me Go, relatively.

Betty’s stomach dropped as she watched Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne’s ward, perform a triple somersault midair without a net below him. She was fifteen, nearly sixteen years old and she never noticed the way that Dick moved while he performed at gymnastic competitions. Bruce was barely watching, knowing that Dick would win, and he was chatting happily with Aunt Kathy, who was beaming at Bruce. They were so dorky in love with each other sometimes. Betty, however, had her eyes glued to Dick.

She had met him when they were twelve, going on thirteen, when Aunt Kathy visited Bruce Wayne. Bruce was Betty’s cousin, anyway, but since he was not too close to the Kane side of the family, they never met before. Betty was enamored with the Boy Wonder, Robin, though. Dick found her annoying because all she talked about was Robin. She always thought that he was just jealous of Robin.

Still, they slowly, very slowly, became friends, bonding over Disney movies and trying to get Bruce and Kathy together, or at least, getting Bruce and Selina together. Try as she might, Robin never gave Bat-Girl a second look.

And now she knew why.

Dick Grayson was Robin. All these years and she never even saw it. It was so obvious now and she felt like a silly girl, what Robin always accused Bat-Girl of being. She had no right to call herself a detective. She glanced at Aunt Kathy and wondered if she knew all along, since she was so smart. Aunt Kathy probably knew that Dick was Robin. It also meant that Bruce Wayne was Batman.

Funny how fast vigilantism became a family business.

Dick landed perfectly and scored a triple ten from the judges. He grinned proudly into the stands, eyes focusing on Bruce, who had the look of a proud father in any television series these days. For a brief moment, he glanced at Betty and then at Aunt Kathy. After the competition was over (Dick won first place, of course), before he could run over to greet them and show his trophy, Betty excused herself to the bathroom.

She found herself standing in a bathroom stall, wanting very much to bang her head against the stall door.

“God, Betty, you are a fool of a girl,” she told herself. She had always liked Robin, but Dick was her friend. Now the only two boys in her life were one in the same and she wondered if that meant that she liked Dick too. Sighing, she was confused. Robin mostly meanly teased her or otherwise ignored her, even though she completely backed off of flirting with him for the past two years. Dick may had complained about their playdates, as Alfred called them, but he talked to her, joked with her, treated her nice, for the most part (since most males were dunderheads, anyway).

Betty did not need to like Robin because in reality, Batwoman and Bat-Girl really did not work much with Batman and Robin, except with Joker was going big on terrorist attacks on Gotham or they were helping out the Justice Society of America with ending doomsday plots from villains. The Batladies took one half of Gotham City and the Batboys took the other half and yes, they traded notes, but they were two separate duos. 

Bracing herself, she needed to act normal around Dick, which was easy. She wondered if he knew about her being Bat-Girl. Sometimes having a double life really stunk. She rejoined Bruce, Aunt Kathy, and Dick.

Smiling brightly at Dick, “Good job, Dickie. You really showed them.”

Dick lightly blushed at the praise. “Thanks, Betty. Gee, Bruce, can we stop for ice cream before going home?”

And like that, Betty realized as she was accidentally pressed against Dick’s side, since Alfred only brought a four seat car, that she did not like Robin anymore. It kind of a felt nice to not worry about a crush or anything like that anymore. Dick was a great friend, a bit of a dork in a good way, and she could enjoy spending time with him, without any guilt on her part.

At home, the Kane ancestral house in Gotham, Aunt Kathy and Betty went down to their hideout, a panic room underground. “So, you were quiet at the ice cream shop, Betty, is everything alright?” Betty smiled, softy at her Aunt Kathy. Aunt Kathy was more of a mother to her and Betty wanted to be as brave and confident and amazing as Aunt Kathy someday.

“Gee, Aunt Kathy, I’m alright, really,” declared Betty.

“Well, I’m here if you need to talk, kiddo,” said Aunt Kathy. 

“I know.”

Just like that, Betty felt freer than anything. She did not need a boy in her life. Aunt Kathy had it right. Aunt Kathy and Bruce flirted a lot, and they really did love each other, but neither was willing to commit in any serious way. Since Uncle Nathan died, Aunt Kathy was a widow and suddenly very rich. Betty’s own father Philip died a few years back at a factory. Since her parents were those parents who were together but not, Betty was raised in Malibu, raised being a relative term. Her mother spent more time partying with her actor friends, than caring for Betty.

So when Aunt Kathy asked her if she wanted to come and stay in Gotham with her after that first summer vacation when she visited and became Bat-Girl, Betty hopped at chance. It was just the two of them.

And occasionally there was Bruce, who was really nice actually, and Dick. Alfred was the best.

Thus, when one of those rare occasion came that she and Batwoman had to team up with Batman and Robin, she was confident that she was not going to make a fool of herself this time. Robin would have to start to respect her as an equal. She saw the apprehensive look on Robin’s face as she and Batwoman approached the Dynamic Duo. Robin was still wary of her. The years of her throwing herself at the Boy Wonder were over. Never again.

“Batwoman, Bat-Girl, glad you could make it,” said Batman. As Batman and Batwoman discussed the case, Betty made it her business to pay attention to what the two adults were saying. She made no move to greet Robin, ignoring him like he so ignored her all those times and yes, she realized that it was a bit petty. “Robin and Bat-Girl were check out this location and you’ll come with me, Batwoman. Sound like a plan?” She knew that Batman just sent Robin and her on a wild goose chase, the less dangerous place, so he and Aunt Kathy would handle the real criminals, without having to worry about them.

Granted, they had done this before on them, but Robin did not seem to notice that Batman did it regularly.

Batman and Batwoman went off, leaving Bat-Girl and Robin. Robin looked nervous. “Bat-Girl, are you mad at me? Did I do something, because there was that one time where I said you looked good as a red head and you were so mad at me?”

Bat-Girl smiled. “Gosh, Robin, no, I’m not mad at you. I just am trying to be a more serious crime-fighter, besides, I don’t have a crush on you anymore, so don’t expect any more surprise hugs or kisses.”

“Oh, okay, Bat-Girl. We should go.” Betty ignored how he sounded more like Dick Grayson than Robin and how he sounded relieved that she was not mad at him.

They worked better together, like she thought they would. He trusted her a bit more, though he tried to protect her (which was funny, seeing as she only got kidnapped all of once and he got kidnapped by bad guys on a regular basis). All in all it was a successful night, Batman and Batwoman busted a drug ring and Bat-Girl and Robin caught thirty pickpockets and stopped three robberies.

This was a new beginning, certainly.

“Why is Bruce so hard to buy a gift for,” whined Dick, after rejecting the nth thing that Betty tried to suggest for Bruce. It was almost Father’s Day and Dick always got Bruce a gift. Alfred got one too. Naturally he left flowers at his parents’ graves on Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and their birthdays.

“He’s not. He’d adore anything you would give him, Dick,” said Betty sighing, as she put the watch back on the display table. “You could give him a hand-made card and he’d probably frame it and hang it in his study.” Dick made face.

“The first year I was there, I did…and you’re right, he framed it.” Betty giggled. They left the store and headed to the next one. “Thanks for coming with me, Betty.”

“Like I would let you pick out any clothes for Bruce without me here to make sure it’s not ugly,” said Betty. Dick snickered. She liked this, just spending time with her closest friend. Teasing each other, not meanly, and shopping for someone they both cared about for an important day. It was the first year that Betty decided to get something for Bruce. Out of duty, she put flowers on her father Philip’s grave, along with Uncle Nathan’s grave and Aunt Martha and Uncle Thomas’s graves. Bruce was more of a father than she ever had, so when she suggested it to Dick, he agreed that it would be a good idea.

Then again, Dick thought a scaly green unitard was a good idea. She would somehow get the Boy Wonder in pants or at least green tights by the end of the year. (Now that her crush subsided, she did not want her friend to be flashing every pedophile and creep in Gotham).

Eventually, they finally found things to buy Bruce—Batman paraphernalia. Dick bought him a Bat-symbol t-shirt while Betty bought him a Bat-themed stationary set. At least, Alfred and Aunt Kathy would think it was funny. They couldn’t wait to see the look on Bruce’s face when he opened the gifts. 

They stopped at Gotham Central Park for hot dogs and ice cream.

“So, how’s school,” asked Dick. Betty attended an all-girls’ private school. She missed her Malibu boarding school, because she had a few friends there, but other than that, she could not complain that she was getting a good education.

“Easy peasy, Dickie,” said Betty, with a confident grin. Before, she could ask him how school was, since she knew that he had problems with bullies and inconsiderate teachers at supposedly the best boys’ private school in Gotham, she heard annoying cackling. Dick looked vaguely uncomfortable, like wanted to be disappear into the ground. Betty frowned.

“Look it is the gypsy boy! Where’s your boyfriend?”

Dick’s jaw clenched, he was getting mad. Betty glared at the boys with the full-on Kane women family glare. This bullying was not going to happen in front of her, not to her friend. But she knew that it would get worse when she was not there, because then they would add that a girl had to protect him. It was an insult to his male pride and then things would get awkward with him again.

“Go away,” said Dick, as calmly as possible.

One of the boys tried to grab Dick by the collar, but Betty was fast and she could not help it, even if Dick got mad at her. “Don’t touch him.” She glared, fiercely.

“What? You got some Amazon girl to hide behind now, gypsy. Like that fellow Trevor, always hiding behind Wonder Woman, waiting for a girl to rescue him.” Another boy spewed that out immediately.

Betty frowned. She liked Steve Trevor and when it was not super-powered villains and mythological beings, he was a great warrior. And Diana protected everyone. “Back off. You don’t want to get beat up by a girl, trust me on this, boys.”

“Betty…” started Dick. He wanted her to stop, but she would not let someone push him down.

She knew that Bruce disapproved of fighting in school, according Dick who complained about the high expectations placed on him by Bruce.

“Dick, we’re not in school and you could always say that you were defending me,” said Betty, grinning at Dick. Dick grinned back. The bullies threw the first punch and like Bat-Girl and Robin, Dick and Betty made quick work of them. Betty got knocked in the head and Dick had a black eye, but they were unscathed.

“Geez, Betty, you okay,” asked Dick. He gently stroked her hair where she got beamed by one of the brutes.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Dick.”

Just standing there in the park, with Dick and his blue eyes gazing at her, concerned, Betty’s stomach dropped.

She was in love with him. All of him. Both of him. Whatever.

And naturally, at this realization, she started to have a panic attack and started to cry. Dick freaked out that Betty was crying (because he had seen her get worse in other fights) and he did not like girls crying, especially Betty.

Naturally, it just so happened that Commissioner Gordon was having a coffee break in the park and he found the heiress Betty Kane and Bruce Wayne’s ward after a brawl, with Betty crying and Dick freaking out. Commissioner Gordon sighed and took out his radio, told the station secretary to call Bruce Wayne and Kathy Kane to Gotham Park to pick up their kids.

Bruce and Aunt Kathy came rushing to them. Bruce merely took Dick away to the car where Alfred was waiting, while Aunt Kathy merely brought Betty into a hug. 

“Aw, sweetie, don’t cry, I’m here now.”

“Aunt Kathy, my life is over. I can’t…I can’t believe it. Why did this happen,” cried Betty into her aunt’s shoulder. Aunt Kathy seemed bewildered.

“What? It was just a fight, Betty.”

“No, not that, Aunt Kathy. I’m in love with Dick. I’m sixteen, my life is over. This is horrible,” complained and cried Betty. Aunt Kathy just started to laugh, gently. “It’s not funny!”

Aunt Kathy gently stroked her hair. “Only you would figure out that you were in love after a fight. My sweet girl, it’s not horrible. You can handle it.” Betty merely sniffed, miserably, hugging her Aunt Kathy.

Still, when Dick came over to her house the next day, with a plate of cookies from Alfred (that he claimed he helped make, but she’s seen in him the kitchen and it was as disastrous as Bruce’s attempts at cooking), to make sure that she was alright. As she let him inside, Betty found that being in love with Dick Grayson was far better than crushing on Robin. Of course, she put him in a headlock after he asked if it was a girl thing that happened to her yesterday. He was still kind of a dork and an insensitive jerk. But, he was her dork and insensitive jerk.

She smiled as she released him from the headlock and he grinned at her.

She was so in love with Dick and it made her happy.


End file.
